Doreen Schultz, Director of Religious Education and Youth Ministry at St. Mary Parish in Monroe, MI.
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I'm a director of religious education and youth ministry and I've been doing professional ministry for 10 years now.

I started out as a volunteer catechist for our preschool program and the director at the time needed a part time secretary so I worked for her. She knew she was going to have to be retiring in a few years, so she encouraged my education and mentored me and I became the director of that parish when she retired.

What did you do before lay ministry?

I was a life insurance agent, property and casualty insurance agent and I was able to deal with people, which I really love to do. It was a very fulfilling career at the time, but it wasn't what I wanted to do when I was raising my children.

Like a lot of us, I don't think I chose ministry, I think it chose me; but as I was in it, the more I knew it was the right fit. I work hard I'm emotionally exhausted by the end of the day but it's so exhilarating, it's my breathe of life. It's what makes me what I am.

Describe your position.

My job in lay ministry is so diverse; I think that's one of the things I love most about it. I'm one minute a principal, a teacher, a counselor, an advocate, and a social worker, sometimes all in the same day.

Sometimes the hours are very long. Sometimes there's no time for family at the end of the day; you're so exhausted or because we spend so much time with our church family and the community we often miss some of our own family events.

How does lay ministry mesh with your personal life?

Well I'm a single parent raising my 2 teenagers so I'm managing to maintain my household. Wonderful vacation schedule, I'm off in the summer when my kids are off of school.

I'm able to maintain my standard of living, my own home, I have health insurance benefits, educational benefits—often times the parish will sponsor you, and there are scholarships available. An education and benefits for my family—it's a good career choice for me. I'm able to support myself and my family and keep up a standard of living I enjoy.

What do you like about your job?

I remember telling my parents I was going to join the Peace Corps to change the world. I just knew I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to help people. I just didn't want to accept a paycheck. I wanted to make a difference everyday.

I feel like I can make a difference in small ways and sometimes in very large ways that I don't realize maybe for years later that I've made a difference in people's lives. It's pretty special.

I had a parent who came to me and after a first communion retreat on explaining the Eucharist to her child, and she came to me years later and said you know I needed to thank you, you changed my whole way of looking at the body of Christ and my spirituality is so enriched and I'm able to enrich my child's life because of that.

Well you know, in Ecclesiastes there's this wonderful piece about "for every time there is a season and there's a time to be born" and in Baptism we are all born into Christ and we all have that baptismal call to fulfill but often I feel that I'm called to be born and to be fresh everyday, every new catechetical year as I'm teaching a whole new batch of kids about the Eucharist or about Jesus.

Do you have special skills you use in your ministry?

A lot of the skills I use in my job today are also used in my job as an insurance agent as far as people skills being able to relate and having to listen to problems but when you can bring God in and help them see that they have a companion not only in God but in me and in the rest of the community and that their not alone. It's a lot deeper and a lot more meaningful.

Do you ever think about taking your skills and looking for work outside the church?

Very often it is tempting to look at a career in the real world so to speak maybe for financial benefits or upward mobility, but I feel not only do I gain enough financially to support my family but the other benefits as well. My children and I both get to see the value of God in other people's lives and those conversion points and those wonderful experiences in their lives, we get to share—not just passing dollars across the counter.

What gifts do you believe you bring to your profession?

I think the gifts that I bring to lay ministry besides a listening ear which is more than just listening to the words but really listening to what people are saying or are not saying. It's a love of the faith and a love of the tradition and our sacraments and a love of people, a confidence in what I believe in and probably I've had a lot of people just say, "you know, I'm able to talk to you, you're approachable." I think some of the gifts that I bring to professional lay ministry are a listening ear, approachability, a deep love of the faith and our traditions and our wonderful rituals and sacraments.

I think the lasting influence or the one thing I'd want someone to remember about me is something---it's a gift that a parent gave me when she said, "you have been blessed by God, and bless you for the way you use your gifts." And whether it's having a listening ear or being able to find the resources or help they need to counseling or direction that they need, that' pretty special.

I think the gift you need most in this field is listening but not just in listening to the words people are saying. It's listening to what they're not saying, and what really is the underlying issue--maybe not even a problem but something they might need your help or guidance with, so listening is probably number one. Sometimes they just need to have a presence there to know that they are not alone, that they have a companion in whatever struggles they are going through, whether it's family issues—you know, possibly needing guidance for counseling or annulments or abusive problems or maybe they're just struggling with the fact they have a blended family now and how do we make this work and have our faith help us at the same time.

Is part of your work finding gifts in others?

Finding gifts in others, finding gifts in the kids sometimes can be pretty challenging, but you know, they really bring a lot. They have that enthusiasm and that awe that I think we lose when we get older, so working with them brings back that spirit of awe. And their questions, they're no longer willing to accept "because I said so" and their questions are profound and deep-reaching to where you have to be strong in your own knowledge and faith to answer them.

How did your family and friends react to your chosen career?

My family and friends when I first chose this career, their first response was "Why don't you get a real job?" but honestly, there's a lot times they look and wonder, "why the church?" But in the end, there's usually a great respect for what you do and people admire you for what you do.

Like I said, often times I'm not so sure I chose the church or it chose me but again I love my work and I can have a bad day but yet come home feeling so exhilarated by what I've seen. It may have been a tough thing to go through, but it's sometimes very humbling to have been able to be a part of that in someone's life, even if it was something that was grief or sadness or happiness and they allowed you to be a part of that. So being a companion with people through some of the tough sacramental moments, it's a wonderful feeling.

I think the church chose me very much like most of the prophets. Sometimes we're very---its like "no way." I don't have time or often I don't think we feel qualified or good enough to be able to do this job and the church sometimes grabs us by the ears and says not only are you good enough, I choose you. I need you to help spread the word, and to educate, and to listen to people.

What additional education and/or experience did you need for your position?

The more education I got and the more experience I got—it just is addicting. I just want more education. I wanted to learn more, so it was fulfilling my own knowledge and spirituality which is one of those benefits of this job but I didn't there wasn't the lightening bolt or the knock off the horse or anything. It was a gradual process that as I grew into the position and the more education I got the more comfortable, more confident I was. And it also takes one person to tell you that you've made a difference in their life and then you know it's right.

I graduated this past April (2002) and it was my pastoral ministry diploma from Sacred Heart Major Seminary. That's the only college experience I've had.

I've always been a compassionate person and I think as a child I first I wanted to be a veterinarian and then it was talking about being in the Peace Corps. We always talked about religion in our neighborhoods. Back then it wasn't a taboo subject, so to be able to share my faith with others is something I think I've always done. I did not attend catholic schools. I'm a product of the public school system and I was in Saturday morning catechism. The further education was at Sacred Heart Seminary so it's not necessarily something you have to be a catholic school kid to do.

Is there career mobility in professional lay ministry?

There's great career mobility out there if you get the education and experience behind you. You often have employers who compete for a professional lay minister. You often can choose a parish that if they have an opening that's available you can interview for several parishes and choose where you want to work. There are often professional and financial benefits that would sway your choice, there's a competitive job choice.

There are job opportunities, a competitive job market in professional lay ministry. Not only are there not as many priests so there aren't 3 or 4 priests working at a parish, there aren't as many professional lay ministers. We need more and we need again to stress professional we need you to be educated and knowledgeable about our field.

What do you like most about your position?

What I like most about my job is the honored, sometimes very humbling experiences of being able to celebrate such monumental points in people's lives whether it's sacramental--the first communions, the confirmations, and marriages, the grief--walking through with someone over the death of a family member. They feel close to you and ask you to be a companion on that journey and watching people being part of their lives is they struggle with that static relationship between God and their everyday world.

What are your hopes for your own children?

My hopes for my teenagers--no matter what career path they choose—is that they always carry their faith tradition with them. I often tell other parents, "Is your child going to--when they're going through moments of deep trouble in their lives and or questioning—is that hockey trophy going to be able to help them or are they going to have the resources of their faith to get them through?"

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